Last Wednesday night while I was laying in bed listening to the rain and looking through my Instagram feed, I saw a couple of people post up photos of the Frida Kahlo Art Garden Life exhibition hosted by the New York Botanical Garden.
I went ahead and googled it and read that it would be closing out on November 1st. There was no way I would be able to make it that Halloween weekend due to prior commitments so I decided to make the trip up to the garden the following afternoon.
Before arriving to the exhibit I knew it would be magnificent based solely off photos posted by visitors and Frida admirers from all over the world. The garden replicated her famous Casa Azul, which is still up and running in Fridas hometown of Coyoacán. Within the walls of the house you enter a vast garden filled with gorgeous plants native to Mexico which she and Diego once cultivated.
The main attraction was the altar or ofrenda in Spanish decorated with plants, flowers, and other figures representing Dia de los Muertos, which was inspired by the one Diego had built for Frida.
I arrived to the garden around 3 pm and spent three hours roaming the exhibit taking photos, reading up on the plants, and admiring the Mexican music that reminded me of back home, in fact, I got a bit homesick.
A huge advantage of going on a weekday was that I practically got the whole exhibit to myself. The weekend would have been a mess and I wouldn’t have been able to appreciate it how I did this past Thursday.
Frida was a talented and unique artist who was extremely ahead of her time. Although she suffered a great deal her art is still admired till this day and it was clearly seen amongst my face and the other patrons that Thursday.
This only motivated me to visit the real house someday soon (hopefully this coming summer) and embrace it fully wearing my huipil, flower headpiece and all. Stay tuned!
POSTCARDS & PUMPS 